Leus du Plooy is excited to be a part of The Hundred’s inaugural season and believes the competition could help to strengthen the sport’s link with a younger generation of supporters.
Having enjoyed a strong first season with Derbyshire across all formats, du Plooy was drafted by Welsh Fire, along with fellow Derbyshire teammate Ravi Rampaul.
The batsman smashed three half-centuries during the 2019 Vitality Blast, with his 312 runs coming at an average of 39 as Derbyshire reached Finals Day for the first time.
The competition makes its debut in July, with Welsh Fire taking on Oval Invincibles in the opening match. Du Plooy is pleased to be a part of history, and hopes that The Hundred attracts young supporters to take an interest in the game.
“I’m really honoured to have been drafted,” he said.
“Some of the best players in the world will be playing in the competition and it will be a really good experience. I’m looking forward to the competition getting started.
“It will be really interesting to see how everyone falls into place within their teams and how everyone will perform in a new format, we will all take that as it comes, so it’s a really exciting thing to be a part of.
“We all love the game, and we want to bring continuity to it, so it’s important to keep bringing a younger generation of supporters in so that cricket can reach its full potential, because I think that there is a lot to grow.”
Along with du Plooy and Rampaul, Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen and Luis Reece have also been drafted to Manchester Originals and London Spirit respectively.
All matches in the competition will be televised across BBC and Sky Sports, and du Plooy believes the increased exposure for those representing Derbyshire will be beneficial for the club.
“It will be good to have Derbyshire players in the competition, as it will only grow the club even more,”
“I think it is really important, because people sometimes overlook a county like ours, so it’s a great opportunity to showcase what we can do and hopefully get some more eyes on Derbyshire as well.
“We were fortunate enough to have a really good Vitality Blast campaign, and I really do fell that we are growing as a club, so it will be great to get exposure for as many players as we can in our squad.”
